Direct proof of use
S-75/SA-2 use in the 2014 Yemen Civil War is documented primarily through Houthi-aligned conversion of inherited Yemeni missile stocks. The Washington Institute reported that Houthi forces seized much of Yemen's ex-Soviet surface-to-air missile inventory, including SA-2 systems, after taking Sanaa in September 2014 and expanding into other areas in March 2015, and that many surviving SA-2 missiles were converted into Qaher-1 and Qaher-2 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.
The direct battlefield role was therefore not a conventional fixed-site SA-2 air-defense campaign. CSIS describes Qaher-1 as a Houthi conversion of Yemeni V-755 missiles from S-75 systems into unguided land-attack rockets, first fired in December 2015. The War Zone likewise reports that the Houthis converted some S-75/SA-2 missiles into Qaher-2 and Muhit ballistic missiles for land and maritime targets, while describing the status of inherited intact surface-to-air systems as unclear.
Sources: Iran's Support to Houthi Air Defenses in Yemen, The Missile War in Yemen, What Air Defenses Do The Houthis In Yemen Actually Have?
Timeline
The relevant Yemen-war sequence begins with Houthi-aligned seizure of state arsenals and air-defense equipment. After the group took Sanaa in September 2014 and expanded in March 2015, coalition strikes destroyed many fixed air-defense sites, radars, and interceptor aircraft, reducing the practical value of older radar-guided SAM batteries.
By late 2015, the S-75 stock had appeared in a different role. CSIS reports that the Houthis created a missile research division in May 2015, converted around 200 V-755 missiles into Qaher-1 rockets, and first fired Qaher-1 publicly in December 2015. Later reporting records follow-on Qaher and Muhit/Mouhit conversions using the same S-75/SA-2 lineage for land and maritime strike.
Sources: Iran's Support to Houthi Air Defenses in Yemen, The Missile War in Yemen, Countering Iran's Missile Proliferation in Yemen, What Air Defenses Do The Houthis In Yemen Actually Have?, Made in Yemen? Assessing the Houthis' Arms-Production Capacity
Narrative
Yemen inherited large stocks of Soviet-era SA-2/S-75 equipment before the current war, but the open-source record for the 2014 Yemen Civil War points to missile repurposing more strongly than to intact SA-2 battery combat. The Washington Institute assessed that the inherited ex-Soviet SAMs were obsolete, in need of repair, and heavily damaged by coalition attacks on fixed sites and radars by mid-April 2015.
The Qaher family shows how S-75 missile bodies moved from air defense into long-range strike. CSIS and Washington Institute reporting describe Qaher-1 as a conversion of S-75/V-755 or V75 missiles used against Saudi targets, including Khamis Mushait and Jizan-area targets. This makes the S-75 relevant to the Yemen conflict as a captured missile stock and conversion base even when the named battlefield weapon was the Qaher rather than an unmodified SA-2 battery.
The same lineage extended to maritime strike. The War Zone reports that S-75/SA-2 missiles were converted into Muhit ballistic missiles for targets at sea, and IISS assesses the Mouhit anti-ship ballistic missile as a conversion of the legacy S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile system. These sources support a land-and-maritime strike role for converted S-75 stocks while leaving the operational status of intact SA-2 air-defense systems unresolved.
Sources: Iran's Support to Houthi Air Defenses in Yemen, The Missile War in Yemen, Countering Iran's Missile Proliferation in Yemen, What Air Defenses Do The Houthis In Yemen Actually Have?, Made in Yemen? Assessing the Houthis' Arms-Production Capacity
